


I'm Busy

by SoaringWings



Series: One-Shots [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bad Flirting, Being Busy, Distractions, F/M, Flirting, Humor, One Shot, One-Sided Attraction, Some Plot, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-26
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-11 06:33:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4425092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoaringWings/pseuds/SoaringWings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One-shot.</p><p>I don't have time for this. </p><p>I'm busy and I have better things to do than flirt with a solider, speedster, and trickster. </p><p>But that doesn't stop them from trying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Busy

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by my own busy summer, which has kept me from getting any writing done on this big monster project I'm working on and have yet to complete, let alone edit. So um, hope you like this and look forward to my next work!

“Hey doll!”

I didn’t have to turn my head to see who flopped down beside me on the couch. I sighed inwardly. “I’m not a doll, Bucky.”

He leaned in, looking over at my laptop where I was working. “I’ve already told you, you remind me of this doll my grandmother had in her house.” He turned his eyes towards me just so, in a way I knew had captivated all the girls back in his era. “That doll was beautiful, just like you. Same eyes, lips-”

I forced myself to stare at the screen instead of roll my eyes. “I can’t really talk right now. I’m kind of busy with this project here.”

He didn’t even look away from me, he just took the opportunity to lean in closer so our arms were touching. Not that I really felt anything since it was his metal arm. “One of Tony’s suits I see.”

“Yep.”

“He’s lucky, having you here to help him.”

“Well,” I dragged and dropped something on the screen. “I _am_ an electrical engineer.” A fact that seemed very rarely remembered around here. “A mechanic can only do so much.”

“So what exactly are you doing?” He smiled innocently at me.

I briefly shut my eyes in meditation. “I’m redesigning the wiring for a more effective way to transport power to reduce the overall needed output for each mechanical operation, and adding more power cells for the suit to draw energy on.” I rambled on, hoping I could bore him away like I’ve done before but he continued to ask me questions about what I was doing, dropping the occasional compliment about my intelligence. He was getting more patient.

My salvation came in the form of a text. It was from Tony, the only other Avenger besides us and Pietro in the tower. “Sorry.” I stood, snapping my laptop shut. “Tony needs me in the lab.”

Bucky pouted, _pouted_ , at me before his face lit up in an idea. “Do you guys want help with anything? I’m always happy to let you study my arm.” A process we both knew involved him taking his shirt off.

“Oh it’s fine.” I began backing up, before he could follow me. “You’ve helped us plenty, we’re already using some mechanics from your arm in the design. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” I walked out before he could answer. I knew he wouldn’t follow; he knew it was pretty much hopeless to flirt with me in the lab since I was always too preoccupied with my work.

~~~

Not that that had ever deterred Pietro. No, the speedster would follow me around like a lost dog. I guessed that was because he always liked to be active. He was always moving and liked to wander around the lab and play with stuff if I wasn’t listening. I groaned a little when I saw him walk in. I had had only twenty minutes of peace to work since Tony had left on some stockholder thing.

While both of them were smooth talkers, Bucky was much more subtle (in comparison) and unlike Pietro, wouldn’t mess with whatever I had in front of me. I didn’t mind that they flirted with me. Well, tried to at least. Only when it got in the way of my work; which also happened to be the reason why I wasn’t pursuing a relationship.

I knew they were genuinely interested in and cared for me. In fact, they had both told me on separate occasions to tell them to stop if I ever got uncomfortable. Bucky had been much more casual and sly about saying it but Pietro had been a lot more direct. It was a game really, we all knew that, and one I enjoyed when they weren’t so annoying.

“Printsessa!” He beamed, seeing me fiddle with the suit hanging in the middle of the lab. I was pulling out and replacing damaged wires, giving Tony and I enough time to collaborate on my designs I had so far. I still had a lot left to do and Pietro’s presence wasn’t helping. “Are you doing something different with your hair today? It looks good!”

Now at this I rolled my eyes. “Yes, it’s not in a ponytail today. I lost my last hair tie. And stop calling me that!”

His accent was straight up dangerous. “But how can I not, when you are so beautiful?” Again, less subtle than Bucky.

“I’m busy!” Was my only reply.

“With what?” I didn’t answer, concentrating. “What’s this?” He was about to touch something he shouldn’t, I just knew it. “Ow!” He had shocked himself, I could tell.

 _I knew it_. “You are the sole reason they invented outlet covers.”

He smiled broadly, knowing he at least had some of my attention now, even if I wasn’t looking at him. In a blur, he was kneeling next to me. “Can you hold something for me?”

I sighed, holding out my gloved palm. “What-” I stopped, realizing he was now holding my hand. “Seriously?”

He batted his blue eyes. “Can I also borrow a kiss?” I raised an eyebrow. “I promise I’ll give it back.”

Unblinking, I tore my hand away and reached for the blowtorch next to me, lowing the shield of my welding helmet. “You better stand back, I need to remove this panel.” He had to scoot back to avoid the resulting sparks.

~~~

I had finally escaped Pietro, on the little white lie that I was going to take a nap before Tony got back in the next six or so hours. Everyone knew that if you were going to work with him, you were subject to his odd work hours and all-nighters. He’d probably be back by midnight and demand we work until three in the morning. And that was if I was lucky.

Not that I was any better; I sometimes stay up for literally days at a time until I either collapse and give the team heart attacks or when even Tony-the-insomniac threatens to drag me kicking and screaming to the nearest pillow despite my protests that physically, I could technically stay awake longer than he ever could, even on coffee or whatever energy drink he spiked it with. Bruce always lectured and nagged me against it. But right now, I was going to work in the quiet sanctuary of my room instead of sleeping.

Or so I thought. I stopped halfway down the hall. The lights went dark momentarily, flickering on as the emergency generators kicked in, dimmer now. Either something was wrong with the electrical transporter, circuit box, arc reactor that powered the tower, or we were under attack. All three possibilities demanded my attention.

I opened my eyes again and at the end of the hall I saw a man swathed in green. Loki. Only being a recent addition to the team, I had never met him but oh have I heard stories. I caught him off guard for a second so there was a pause before he smiled at me. “And who might you be?” He held his hands behind his back and sauntered up to me. “Don’t tell me you’re one of them. You are much too fair for that.”

 _Oh come on_. This is just getting ridiculous. “You must be Loki.” I said smoothly, even as he towered over me.

He smirked. “You must have heard of me, my dear.” Well, at least that nickname is new.

He stretched over so that he was comfortably leaning against the wall. If he put his right hand on the other side of my head, I would be trapped. “Do you want something?”

“Yes.” He leaned in close. “If you wouldn’t mind darling, could you tell me where you store your records?” He shot me a sheepish look, as if this was a joke between us and only us.

I snorted. “I’m an engineer, not a secretary.”

His eyes were pleading but mischievous. “I only want to have a bit of fun. Please, just this one favor? For me?”

I reached my hand forward. His eyes went wide, shaking as electricity surged through him. He collapsed before he even realized what happened. I watched as he continued to convulse on the ground. My hand was still in the air. Small charges of lighting danced from it. Yeah, they don’t let any just electrical engineer join the Avengers.

~~~

I walked behind Bucky as he dragged a stunned and twitching and very much awake trickster to the cell built in the basement. I stepped around the many knives Pietro picked off of him and carelessly dropped. From what I heard, they had literally taken the old cage Thor had destroyed and repaired and upgraded it. Personally, I thought it was a horrible idea since they had gotten a first-hand demonstration that _two_ gods could escape from it, but I had been reassured that it was now equipped with anti-magic shields and several more layers of that supposedly shatterproof glass.

They had just dropped him down when Loki flinched and scrambled into an upward position, now regaining control of his muscles again. As the whole tower was in emergency mode, the door locked shut at the motion. All of them tensed, heads spinning to the door. Bucky stiffened, now in a staring contest with Loki. Pietro was looking at me but I was already at the controls.

“Standard procedure.” I read off the touch screen, flipping through some pages. “When a hostile makes sudden movement, the door shuts and locks. But…” I bit my lip, frowning down at the screen.

“But?” Bucky echoed.

“I think there’s a malfunction since we’re on backup power.” I tapped furiously and glared at the picture of the smiling man it showed me. “I can’t override it! Tony’s put himself as the only one who can!” I muttered curses under my breath.

“ _What_?” They all said at the same time. Not that they really took much notice.

“He probably forgot to give that privilege to anyone else when he made the emergency procedures for the tower.” I explained. “It’s a bug in the system; the names didn’t transfer over from normal protocol.”

“Are you all this incompetent?” Pietro shot Loki an offended look but Bucky just glared, as intimidating as ever. Loki made to stand but was stopped by the soldier’s boot on his chest.

“Don’t. Move.”

“It’s-” I searched for the right words. “Kind of okay for him to move? You’re relatively safe. The shield doesn’t just contain magic, it seals it. It won’t let him use any of his tricks.” Loki scowled at that. “Besides, there’s two of you and one of him, and without his knives or his scepter, tricks are the only thing left up his sleeve.”

“So we’re stuck here? With him?” Pietro waved wildly. “In _this_?”

“…Yes.” I said slowly.

“For…” Loki blinked a few times and inclined his head. “How long?”

“Either until Tony gets back or… I guess I could manually override it.” I eyed the lock.

“You can’t open those doors, Doll.” Bucky said simply. “That ain’t happening.”

“I could repair the arc reactor. That is, if he hasn’t destroyed it.”

Loki stood, straightening his outfit and slicking down his hair. “How long again?”

Bucky jabbed his finger at Loki. “You got us into this mess, you don’t get to complain.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Nothing too drastic, I assure you. With Earth technology, you don’t know what could blow up in your face. Full repairs won’t be easy or quick, but I don’t see how one could not create a temporary solution.”

I switched feeds to that room and guesstimated. Yeah, I could make it work. I mean, this was my specialty. It would take an hour, tops. “To just get the tower back online on basic functions?” I checked my phone. The other Avengers were busy but on their way. They could take their time now that we had Loki in containment. Stark, if he held to his schedule, would be back the soonest, in five hours. An idea popped in my head. “Well, it could be hours.”

“ _Hours?_ ” They echoed each other again.

“Yes, hours. I better go start on it now.” I began to back away. Yeah, Pietro and Bucky were relatively safe in there.

“Printsessa!...” Pietro pouted, but Bucky waved me on.

“We’ll be fine.” He assured. “Just-” His eyes slid over warily to a very unimpressed trickster god. “Be as fast as you can.” Loki rolled his eyes, shooting a pouting puppy eyed Pietro a strange look.

“What is wrong with that one?”

I scampered off to make repairs.

Let’s just say I got a lot of work done that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
